ANGLES — Epileptical West: Live in Coimbra (review)

ANGLES — Epileptical West: Live in Coimbra album cover Live album · 2010 · Nu Jazz Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
js
Angles plays avant-garde jazz with influences from the modern world of music including nu jazz, avant-garde art rock and post 70s eclecticism. This album’s opener, “Present Absentees” provides a good example of this band’s mixture of classic and modern influences. The first few minutes present African flavored horn arrangements while the drums set up a loping groove and the vibraphone plays a nice subtle off-kilter solo, it sounds like classic Sun Ra territory. At about the six minute mark a repetitive melody shifts everything and presents a dividing line for potential fans. This sort of insistent repetition is definitely going to be a make or break factor for many interested listeners. Repeating riffs are not that unusual in the world of avant-garde jazz where usually pretty much anything goes, but these sort of insistent rhythms are usually more the domain of the outsider art rock world and definitely places Angles in the current nu jazz entourage, albeit as one of the genres more noisy and improvisational members. A certain extroverted enthusiasm infuses this performance and combines with the rock like riffing to give this outfit an aggressive sound that will appeal to the modern post-punk avant-garde jazzy rock crowd. Subtlety is not a strong point with this group, but insatiable energy is.

Although some of the musical influences on this band combine classic 60s avant-garde jazz with more modern nu jazz/art rock directions, the sound of this ensemble is pure acoustic jazz with three horn players backed by double bass, drums and vibraphone. On track five, "Every Woman is a Tree", the bands opens up some as the drummer lays down the poly-rhythms and the horns go off one at a time in a style that recalls the classic NYC loft scene. All of the musicians in this band are quite talented and vibraphonist Mattias Stahl in particular adds a lot of originality to their sound. I suppose this band could represent new developments in the world of avant-garde jazz where adrenalin rushes of energy and forceful rhythms combine with free horn solos to make a new hybrid.
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